Latest Column on Road to 2012. 17 June 2011

I always compete in a couple of big track meetings in Switzerland at this time but this year I took my eight-year-old daughter Ronie along on the road trip.

I’m used to the M25 and stop-starting for two hours, so driving to Switzerland with clear roads was a breeze in comparison and I didn’t have to worry about my racing chair getting bashed up on a flight, which is always a fear.

I thought Ronie was going to get bored on the trip but she swum in the lake.

Unfortunately, my right shoulder wasn’t quite right before I left. 

The races went really well. I won the 5,000m at the first meeting in Pratteln and was second in the 400m and 800m and third in the 1,500m. I was also second in the 800m and 1,500m at the Muttenz event.

It was in the last of the seven races that it became too much.

I moved into a break in the 5,000m, there were three laps left and my shoulder just couldn’t cope any more so I decided to pull out. I was in agony.

UK Athletics medical team gave the go-ahead to have a cortisone injection in my shoulder.

I headed off to St John’s Wood for that - just by Lord’s actually. The injection itself isn’t that painful but the shoulder.

But what’s amazing is how quickly the cortisone works. Already, I’m feeling a lot better and my plan is to return to training on Monday morning.

Usually when I have time off from training I get restless and worried, particularly if I haven’t got my qualification times. But I’ve got all the ‘A’ qualifying times for the Paralympics bar the 1,500m and I think I can get that at the end of the season.

It has been an amazing year since winning the New York Marathon in November. Since then, there has been the IPC World Championships, the London Marathon and a busy track schedule.

It’s just my body’s way of telling me to slow down and give myself a break now and focus on London 2012. There’s too much at stake next year with the Paralympics not to treat injuries straight away and I’m not 22 any more, I’m a bit older and the body needs time to recover.

I’d love to compete in the Diamond League in Birmingham on 10 July but I’m not putting myself under any pressure to do that. I’ll just have to see how the shoulder reacts when I’m back in full training.

Last week, I went off with Emily for her 3D scan. It’s just 10 weeks to go until the birth of our baby boy.

I also enjoyed a night at the Ministry of Sound last Wednesday as a guest of Lucozade Sport. It was a great night.

So now it’s about getting back to fitness for me and also going to the ante-natal classes and getting the house ready for the baby - it’s time for the baby chaos. But it’ll be good chaos. I’m looking forward to it.